1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a tack strip for securing the peripheral edges of a carpet as it is being anchored to the outer edge of the floor adjacent the walls of a room that is to be covered and more particularly to an improved carpet tack strip that is formed from various ingredients which when mixed together to define a strong polymeric structure. The mixed components are deposited in a mixing hopper of an extruding machine, whereby the resulting compound is heated and molded into an elongated strip that is cooled and cut to selective lengths after which tack-like elements are mounted from the underside of the track so as to project outward from the top surface of the track and extend vertically or angularly upwardly of the top surface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well recognized in the art that problems still exists with numerous carpet fastening devices and often occur with the common wooden assembled carpet strips as well as other know types of carpet securing strips that are made from various plastics and more particularly those made of various plastic compounds that also have a short life expectancy. Accordingly, the most common carpet tack strips are formed as individual narrow elongated strip-like body members that are anchored to the floor along the base of the peripheral walls of a given area such as a room. They are generally secured in a juxtaposed end to end arrangement by means of suitable nails that are driven through the wooden strips and into the floor, whereby the underlying surface of the carpet is readily secured to a multiplicity of hook-like elements that are generally defined by a plurality of tacks or sharp-edged nails that are mounted within each of the wood strips which extend above the top surface of the strip so as to angularly arranged to project inwardly towards the wall adjacent the strips. It should also be noted that many types of wood products have been and are still being used, wherein the wood strips are made from a plywood material. These types of tack strips can be costly because there is a lot of waste material that is generated during the production of plywood strips and if they need to be removed after they are fixed in place they will generally brake into small fragmented pieces. Thus, can only be used once.
There is still a further problem that occurs with wood strips and particularly plywood structured strips in that over the years they begin to deteriorate due to many carpet cleaning operations and the carpet then has a tendency to become separated from the tacks on upper surface side of the strips.
There have been many types of carpet tack strips tried and used that are formed from various plastic polymer materials as a replacement for the wood fastening carpet products. As yet such plastic strips have not been found to be practical or suitable for many types of installations. Some of the polymer materials have not become very popular due to their design configuration and some of these have been found to be more costly than the more commonly employed wood carpet strips. Many are hard to work with during installation of the carpeting particularly in confined areas.
The following U. S. Patents are some examples of various types of carpet tack strips that use different types of plastics and structural arrangements.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,673,633 defines a carpet tack strip of a plastic material having tack-like elements projecting angularly from the surface and having a spacer means along one edge to provide accurate spacing from the base board. It also includes a metal strip insert in a dovetail.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,269 there is disclosed a tackless carpet stripping for attaching carpets to the floor, being a one-piece integrally molded structure having an elongated member that includes a multiplicity of integrally formed diagonal cross members with each adjacent pair of cross members intersecting at a juncture and being integral with the oppositely disposed side members.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,754 there is disclosed a carpet tack strip having a urethane base in which a plurality of securing tacks are imbedded so as to extend outwardly of the upper surface and wherein one edge of the base is formed having a recessed area or zone that is angularly disposed to permit tucking of the carpet edge under the edge of the strip.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,980 there is disclosed a carpet strip and methods of making the strip that is defined by a polymeric body with a longitudinally extending groove formed in the bottom of the strip body.